Coin-operated telephone



M. S. MATHERS com OPERATED TELEPHONE Filed March 2 1923 Patented .lune3, 1924.

Y UNITED STTEQS l,496,l2l

OFFIC.

COIN-OPERATED TELEPHONE.

Application filed March 2, 1923. Serial No. 622,247.

Be it known that I, MARTIN S. Marinus, residing at Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and. State of Illinois, have invented a certain new andusefulImprovement in Coin- Operated Telephones.

In connection with coin operated telephones, particularly where the coinbox is emptied only on infrequent occasions, such as a residencetelephone and other places where the box is cleared only once everymonth, considerable trouble and annoyance is encountered due to thecoins piling' up or pyramiding in one portion of the 'boxor coinreceptacle to such an extent as to prevent the coins from passingthrough the slot mechanism, thus throwing the telephone entirely out ofoperation. lhen this happens, and it occurs Jfrequently, it becomesnecessary to make complaint to the telephone company and then await therepair man to come and unlock the box and distribute or remove thecoins. Thus it results in trouble, annoyance and expense, not only tothe customer or user, but the company as well.

Therefore, it is an object of my inven tion to provide a box for coinoperated tele phones in. which these disadvantages are entirelyeliminated.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a coin operatedtelephone box in which the coins can be easily and quickly distributedthroughout the coin receptacle from the outside, by the ordinarycustomer and use by simply turning a crank or button.

The above and other features of novelty, advantages and capabilties,willbecome apparent from a detailed description of the accompanyingdrawings, in which I have illustrated one form of my invention, but theconstruction there shown will be understood as illustrative only and notas defining the limits of my invention.

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a box for coin operatedtelephones, partially broken away, showing one embodiment of myinvention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the same, partiallybroken away, for sake of clearness, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end elevational. view of a box for coin operatedtelephones partially in section and broken away showing' an embodimentof a modified form of my invention.

The coin box 10, which may be of any well known construction, isprovided with a door 11 which is equipped with a suitable lock 12, thekeys for which lock, in prac tice, are carried only by an authorizedrepresentative of the telephone company and' not by the customer. Thisbox also has the usual coin intake 18 and coin return 14.

By inserting' the proper coin which passes down 'through the usual slotmechanism, which is well understood in the art and not deemed. necessaryto here explain, service is lgiven or rendered. These coins in operationpass through the slot mechanism into the coin receptacle 15 inthe coinbox, where they pile up or pyramid in one end portion of the coinreceptacle to such an extent as to prevent subsequent coins from passingthrough the slot mechanism, thus throwingthe telephone out of order. Inmost instances the user is not aware of the condition which thus rendersthe service inoperative, but if he were, he would not be in a positionto rem-edv it, as he is not provided with a key for unlocking the doorto the box to give him access to the interior, so that it is necessaryto notify the company and await the coming of its representative, whichresults in Lgreat annoyance and delay to the customer and expense andtrouble to the telephone company. To overcome this disadvantage andsolve this problem, I rotatably mount in the ends of the coin receptaclea shaft 1G which extends outward through an opening in one end of thecoin box and is provided with a turn button 17 or the like. Fixed totheshaft within the coin receptacle is a screw or worm propeller 18which, when the shaft is rotated by the button or otherwise, moves thecoins from one end of the receptacle to the other, so as to prevent themfrom piling` up or pyramiding at one end. In other words, by theoperation of the means de-` scribed, the coins within the receptacle arereadily and quickly distributed from the outside by the customer.

Referring` to the modification shown in F ig. 3 I rotatably mount ashaft 2O in the front and back side of the coin box substantially in thecenter near the lower portion, on which shaft is non-rotatably mountedwithin the coin'box a paddle or linger 21, so that when the shaft 20 yisr0- tated from the outside-ot the box by means ot the handle 22 thepaddle or linger distributes or kicks the coins from one side o'lE thebox to the other.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope ot myinvention. For instance, the shaft may be mounted trai'isversely, thatis, inthe sides of the coin receptacle instead ot' the ends, and provided with one or more blades for kicking the coins from one end oit thereceptacle to thel other, but the illustration shown is my preferredform.

Having' thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. ln a coin operated telephone, the combination ot a coin box, a coinreceptacle in the lower portion of said box, a coin Chute having anintake near theupper end of said box and discharge into said coinreceptacle. a rotatable member mounted in said box and operable from theexterior and means mounted on said rotatable member for engaging; andmoving the accumulated coins awayv from the mouth of said chute whensaid rotatable member is rotated, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a coin operated telephone, the combination of a coin box, a coinreceptacle in the lower portion of said box, a coin chute having' anintake near the upper end of Said box and discharge into said coinreceptacle and means mounted in said boX for engagingr and moving theaccumulated coins away from the discharge oit said chute, said meanscomprising` a shaft rotatably mounted in said box and adapted to berotated from the exterior, a finger non-rotatably mounted on said shaftand adapted to engage and move the accumulated coins away from thedischarge of the coin chute, substantially as, and for the purpose setforth.

In witness whereof. l have hereunto subscribed my name to thisspecification in the presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN S. NIATHERS. Witnesses z H. N. SMITH, K. A. HARGADEN.

